Posted: 3/7/2007 10:15:44 PM EDT
Story from Strategypage.com. 
Sigh. Better be leaps and bounds better than the Kiowa Warrior to justify those costs. |
Indeed. I can see problems with the V-22 (even though a few decades on, it should be somewhat more reliable by now...), but converting an existing airframe balloons into some price-doubling clusterfuck? Sheesh. |
We have #2... MH-6/AH-6 Big Army likes the '58... So they rebuilt it - no bigger, slightly better and A HELL OF A LOT MORE EXPENSIVE... |
You should see how we fix them, then!!! When it comes to '64s... One word: GLUE! (Ok, technically it's Hysol EA9309.3 or 960F epoxy resins... But in simple terms, it's expensive, smelly, sticky GLUE... The Apache is very composite-heavy...).... |
Don't Brits use Gazelles for observation? |
Nah… too fragile and slow… AH-9 Lynxs… the worlds fastest helicopter…  And these updated babies have been ordered…  |
What's the fly-away price for one of those? And what did you do with your Gazelles? ETA: Just because they are nice-looking helicopters... 
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That would make too much SENSE since we allready fly them, just upgrade the shit out of the engine, and go... But NOOO, we need to be able to carry pax INSIDE our RECON helo, and we like the 58 too much...  So we get this GREAT IDEA - why not take the chin-ball off the '6, stick it on a beefed up 58, and call it ARH!!!!
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The ARH is actually a militarized 417, not 407. (Although that picture in the first post is a modded 407.) I think the original idea behind using the chin-mounted sight that it is newer than the old mast-mounted sight, yet still "off the shelf." Bell has a new CEO as of January 18th. The Lynx looks considerably larger than the ARH. The OH-6 doesn't have the space to carry passengers like the ARH. |
The new Super Lynx's are a $12.5 million a pop… The Gazelles were all sold off… Aerospatiale Squirells and Bell 412's replaced them. ANdy |
Sure it does, it's just a little less comfortable for them:  The MH-6M has plenty of power and lift with a 6 blade main and 4 blade tail rotor and upgraded engine. |
Specifications (Bell 407) Length (with main rotor): 41 ft 8 in Main rotor diameter: 35 ft 0 in Height: 11 ft 8 in Maximum takeoff: 5,000 lb Powerplant: 1x Allison 250-C47 turboshaft, 700 shp (520 kW) Max Speed: 140 kts Specifications (Super Lynx Series 100) Length: 50 ft Rotor diameter: 42 ft Height: 12 ft 0.5 in Max takeoff weight: 11,750 lb Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Gem, 835 kW (1,120 shp) each Speed: 200 kts |
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You can paint your bell helo here www.bellhelicopter.com/en/aircraft/commercial/config.cfm Good source for "black helos"  |
That's pretty close, and I'm pretty sure the ARH rotor disk is a little bigger than the 407, so even closer yet. |
I look at that pic and all I can think is "What can that heli do that a HueyCobra can't do better? 6klbs, FFAR's, and targeting pods.... Ok, so they might be able to use the guided versions of the FFAR's but it's still a lot less whoopass than a 'Cobra can bring to a game of Touch Football. |
Sorry, but I can't think of a single aricraft that's assembled by robot. There's simply not enough repetition (sales volume) to justify automation. Big difference when you're making MILLIONS of them. |
I never worked with Hysol until I worked on Prowlers. I learned to love the stuff. If you can't fix it with ordi tape, MIL-S-8802, Scotch Weld, Cherry Max rivits and now Hysol it has no place in the military. 
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A Cobra could do everything a Kiowa can and is faster, more survivable and carries more firepower… However!!!! It's not a 'Cheaper, off the shelf answer', which as we know is Procurement Speak for, we take an unsuitable cheap commercial product, spend a shitload of money to turn it into a barely satisfactory militarized version that ends up costing more than a genuine military product would have in the first place. And the advantage of this procurement system? Simple enough… When the new improved 'cheap' version ends up costing so much they reduce the number purchased, you absolutely KNOW the .Mil will issue ANOTHER requirment for a newer 'cheap, off the shelf option' to replace it… Experts claim there is no such thing as 'perpetual motion'… well there is, it's the .Mils policy of 'perpetual procurement'. ANdy |